Thursday, 13 March 2014

PIA News Dispatch - Thursday, February 27, 2014

(KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia) President Benigno S.
Aquino III will inaugurate Thursday the first newly built Petron station in
Malaysia.

The new station is the first constructed by
Petron Malaysia. Existing Petron stations here were the result of mergers and acquisitions.

Upon his arrival from Manila, President Aquino
will proceed to the inauguration. Petron Malaysia chairman of the board Ramon
Ang and country manager Jaime Lu will join the President during the event. The
President will also inspect the site.

Petron Malaysia is part of Petron Corp. in the
Philippines, an emerging and rapidly evolving Asian oil company.

Petron in Malaysia traces its heritage to 1893
when it was first established as Standard Vacuum Oil Company. Along the way, it
has experienced significant changes which included mergers and acquisitions,
shaping its corporate presence in the country.

In the Philippines, Petron Corp. is the largest
oil refining and marketing company. Petron Corp. supplies nearly 40 percent of
the country’s oil requirements. Its world-class products and quality services
fuel the lives of millions of Filipinos.

Petron operates a refinery in Limay, Bataan,
with a rated capacity of 180,000 barrels a day. It processes crude oil into a
full range of petroleum products including LPG, gasoline, diesel, jet fuel,
kerosene, industrial fuel oil, solvents, asphalts, and petrochemical. PND (as)

(KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia) President Benigno S.
Aquino III’s two-day state visit here could prop up business and trade for both
the Philippines and Malaysia, Philippine Ambassador to Malaysia Eduardo Malaya
said in an interview Wednesday.

Malaya said they are excited about the
President’s meeting with the Malaysian business community in a Business
Opportunities forum on Friday, which will give him the opportunity and platform
to engage the Malaysian businessmen

“Their (Malaysians) investment in the
Philippines has been considerable. In fact, in 2011, Malaysian investments in
the Philippines constituted 22 percent of foreign direct investments for that
year,” Malaya said.

Among the Malaysian companies already operating
in the Philippines include Shangri-La Hotel, the Resorts World, Air Asia,
Burjaya, Maybank, and AlloyMTD.

Maybank is increasing its branches in the
Philippines by 20 this year, he said. AlloyMTD on the other hand is the
construction company that rehabilitated the South Luzon expressway two years
ago. It has an interest in a Philippine company.

Genting Berhad, the parent company of Resorts
World is increasing its Philippine holdings by 100 percent as it opens Resorts
World complex in Manila Bay. This complex, called Resorts World Nation, is an
addition to its existing property near the airport—the Resorts World Manila.

“So there has been significant business
engagement between Malaysian businesses and Philippine businesses. This gives
us excitement… the increasing number of Philippine companies operating here,”
Malaya said.

Philippine companies which are active in
Malaysia include Robina Corp., Motolite batteries, Pancake House, and
Yellowcab, Malaya noted, adding President Aquino’s visit will surely enhance
the prospects of Filipino-owned companies in Malaysia.

The President is also scheduled to inaugurate
the first Petron station built in Malaysia. Petron Corp. has been operating in
the country through its Malaysian affiliate Petron Malaysia. Currently, Petron
has 557 gasoline stations here, according to Malaya.

Malaysian companies are noticing the Philippines
because of its unprecedented economic growth taking place as well as its huge
population, which could be a significant consumer market for them, Malaya said.
The Philippines has the second biggest population in the ASEAN region.

“I think that they are looking forward to seeing
the President, meeting the President, listening to what he would say,
particularly also in the backdrop of this is the breakthrough in the peace
process because imagine the opportunities that would be unlocked with peace in
Bangsamoro, and all of these, of course, would further boost the continued
growth of the Philippine economy,” Malaya added. PND (as)

Philippine embassy in Malaysia sends home
thousands of Filipinos through voluntary repatriation

(KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia) Thousands of
undocumented Filipinos in Malaysia had availed of a voluntary repatriation
program and returned to the Philippines, according to the country’s ambassador
here.

In an interview Wednesday, Philippine Ambassador
to Malaysia Eduardo Malaya said more than 7,000 of the undocumented Filipinos
have availed of the voluntary repatriation arrangement. There were around 8,000
to 10,000 Filipinos who worked or stayed in Malaysia illegally.

The embassy worked with Malaysian authorities in
dealing with illegal Filipino immigrants and instead of them Filipinos being
accosted, picked up, and transferred and held in immigration facilities, they
would voluntary surrender and be repatriated, Malaya said.

“They come to us, we try to secure an exit
permit for them, pay a much reduced fine; and after a few days, or at least a
week or two, they will be able to return to the Philippines, and hopefully,
without spending a day in jail,” Malaya said.

“So I think this is something very significant
and our figure is that there must have been about 200 Filipinos... affected by
the crackdown launched early this year,” he added.

The number of undocumented Filipinos is far
smaller compared to other nationalities like Indonesians, who are around two
million. He said dealing with 8,000 to 10,000 undocumented Filipinos is
manageable.

Most of the 200 Filipinos who were rounded up
and detained work in the retail sector and in agricultural plantations, the
ambassador said.

Immigration authorities from peninsula Malaysia
are different from those immigration authorities in Sabah as well as Sarawak,
Malaya explained, noting there are also separate immigration rules in those
territories.

But in Sabah in particular, he said the embassy
regularly sends a consular team composed of around seven members to serve
Filipinos there. They visit Sabah at least each month and stay for a week or
two, he said.

President Benigno S. Aquino III, who is arriving
here today for a two-day state visit, will meet the Filipino community in Kuala
Lumpur. PND (as)

President Aquino to consolidate gains in
Mindanao peace process during two-day Malaysia visit

(KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia) The major thrust of
President Benigno S. Aquino III’s two-day state visit here is to consolidate
peace and development in Mindanao with recent gains in the peace talks with the
Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), Philippine Ambassador to Malaysia Eduardo
Malaya said.

“I think the focus of the visit would be
consolidating peace and supporting the development of Mindanao. Malaysia has
been the facilitator of the Mindanao peace process since 2001. In our view,
they invested in that process as we are in the Philippine government,” Malaya
told reporters in an interview at the Philippine Embassy here on Wednesday.

“They stayed the course and what is important,
now that there is a successful conclusion of the peace process, is to transform
the support and the goodwill from facilitation of the peace process into
concrete economic support measure, so that in the words of the Prime
Minister—‘the former freedom fighters can be transformed into productive
farmers,’” Malaya said.

Malaysian Prime Minister Abdul Najib Razak is
also looking forward to exchanging views with the President on how Malaysia can
help in the economic support infrastructure for the Bangsamoro region, he
added.

Malaya said in a recent interview that after the
signing of the last annex in the Framework Agreement on the Bangsamoro, 13
Malaysian companies visited Cotabato to look for possible investment
opportunities in the Mindanao region.

These Malaysian companies were the first
international business groups that have shown interest in putting up their
businesses in Mindanao. Malaya said those companies are interested in investing
in oil palm plantation, rubber manufacturing, halal foods, infrastructure
development, light manufacturing and many others.

The Philippine government and the MILF signed
last month the Annex on Normalization that will lead to the decommissioning of
the MILF armed wing and private armies in the proposed Bangsamoro area.

The Annex on Normalization was the last of the
four annexes to the Framework Agreement on the Bangsamoro, which was signed by
both sides on October 15, 2012. PND (as)

Gov’t sets aside P9-M for President Aquino’s
first state visit to Malaysia

The government has allocated some P9 million for
President Benigno S. Aquino III’s first state visit to Malaysia from February
27 to March 1, Executive Secretary Paquito N. Ochoa Jr. said on Thursday.

Funding for the state visit covers
transportation, accommodation, food, equipment and other requirements of the
President and his 57-member official delegation during the trip.

President Aquino is visiting Kuala Lumpur on the
invitation of Malaysia’s King or Supreme Head of State Tuanku Abdul Halim and
Prime Minister Najib Razak.

The Yang Di-Pertuan Agong or the King will host
a state banquet for President Aquino on February 28.

“Our President is expected to tackle several
issues of mutual or shared interest in political, economic, and defense
cooperation with Malaysian leaders. I believe President Aquino will also witness
the signing of a couple of agreements on cultural cooperation and education
cooperation,” Ochoa said.

According to Ochoa, the Chief Executive is also
scheduled to meet Malaysian businessmen and the Filipino community in Kuala
Lumpur. PND

President Aquino leaves for two-day state visit
to Malaysia

President Benigno S. Aquino III on Thursday left
for a two-day state visit to Malaysia where he expects to further strengthen
ties between the Philippines and Malaysia.

In his departure statement, the President said
he will relay the Philippines' thanks to Malaysia for helping victims of super
Typhoon "Yolanda" (Haiyan).